Twins promote Sano, two others to Double-A

WASHINGTON -- Miguel Sano bid farewell to Class A baseball with a flourish on Sunday. And he wasn't the only one.

Sano, the Twins' top slugging prospect, hit two home runs during Fort Myers' 8-6 loss to Bradenton, then was informed that he had been promoted to Class AA New Britain. He'll head north along with Miracle teammates Eddie Rosario and Angel Morales -- each of whom also homered in their final Class A game.

Sano, a third baseman who was rated the Twins' top prospect by Baseball America, leaves the Miracle after batting .330 with a league-leading 16 home runs and 48 RBIs in just over two months in Fort Myers. Even better, said Twins' minor-league director Brad Steil, his defense has become more consistent.

"His range is improving. He made some pretty good plays the first couple of months, going across the third-base line and making some pretty impressive throws over to first," Steil said. "He's becoming more consistent."

Rosario, a former outfielder being converted to second base, "is becoming more comfortable over there every day," Steil said. "He's making a lot of plays there." Rosario, who batted .329 with six home runs and 35 RBIs, was benched for three games late last month for a violation of team rules, but Steil said that "is not something out of the ordinary."

Morales, a center fielder, was batting .297 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs.

To replace the trio, the Miracle activated Lakeville, Minn., native Mike Kvasnicka, an outfielder who has been sidelined all season with a broken hamate bone in his wrist, and first baseman Bryan Haar, who had been playing with the Twins' extended spring training team.

In another move, New Britain shortstop James Beresford was promoted to Class AAA Rochester. Beresford, who played for Team Australia in the World Baseball Classic in March, was batting .323 with 19 RBIs for the Rock Cats.

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Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.